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LIVE SHOW REVIEW: NAHKO & MEDICINE FOR THE PEOPLE

Recently, Raleigh’s Red Hat Amphitheater was treated to a double bill from Nahko and Medicine for the People and Dispatch. The two groups are environmentally conscious activists that moonlight as headlining folk/reggae-leaning musicians who have performed internationally for years and accumulated a loyal and well-traveled fanbase. Nahko and Medicine for the People were placed in the middle slot after a short set by Raye Zaragoza. Nahko Bear led his talented band through a set full of love energy and good vibes. The intensity in the crowd was geared up during “Aloha ke Akua” as Nahko and his fellow guitarists all leaned over backwards for a note-bending triple shred session.

The highlight of their set was Tim Snider’s inspired fiddle solo launching into Nahko’s politically charged track “Dear Brother.” “It’s going to take more than songs of justice and freedom. There’s a future, we can believe in,” he delivered to an eager crowd. The set-closing “Love Letters to God” empowered the concert goers with a call to action: “We are animals and we cannot be caged.”

[This coverage was provided by Eo8’s own jam band aficionado Rich Harley.]